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“It scared me,” said Haley. “I asked him to pull over and let me walk back. You got to have [nerve] to drive that car around. My God.”

The soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer and five-time Super Bowl winner with the Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers participated in something more his speed on Saturday: He was the honorary starter for the IndyCar Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Haley, who played a menacing defensive end at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, signaled the start of the race by waving the green flag.

“This has been a wonderful year of achievements and this is one of the highlights,” said Haley, who was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame in January. “I get to be down here on ground zero and see how these guys work.”

Hot diggity Hawg Dawg

Saginaw resident and North Side-raised Aurelio Muro confided before digging a fork into the bacon-infused Loaded Hawg Dawg: “My wife always asks me how my blood work came back, and I say fine, but she says I never show her the report.”

Eyebrows might be raised at the lab Monday after Muro, aka Big Earl, used every tool at the top of the digestive chain to down the oversized sandwich consisting of slow-cooked pulled pork, two mozzarella cheese sticks and two thick slices of bacon on a footlong bun, topped with cheddar bacon jalapeno queso and sliced jalapenos.

Lawd, have mercy.

The Hawg Dawg was the most recent of the creative offerings under TMS’ and Levy Restaurants’ Hawg Heaven brand of concessions, which has included Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy, Shake ’n Bacon Brew bacon-infused beer milkshake, the Hawg Heaven Bacon Nachos and Hawg Heaven Queso Wings.

“It’s good,” said Muro, 46. “It needs a beer to go with it, but it’s good.”